An Obsession with All Things Handmade and Home-Cooked

Green is Good

Green is a color that I happen to love for food; All of those vibrant shades ranging from lime to emerald are more than welcome on my plate, and the more intense that hue, the better it tends to taste. Certain veggie-phobic people that I may or may not know (*cough* my sister *cough*) would disagree, but I think that anything can be lovely through green-tinted glasses. It’s when that color is added as an after thought, however, that things could get a bit dicey.

Every year of my compulsory education for the week surrounding St. Patrick’s day, a myriad of edibles would be dyed unnatural shades of the most unappealing puke-green, causing more concern than delight as intended. Seriously, green, moldy-looking bagels? Drab olive-tinted milk, hinting at spoilage? No thanks, I’ll wait until I get home to eat!

Thus, the appeal of the “legendary” Shamrock Shake failed to register, and it’s hard to understand what all the hubbub is about. Still, the idea of a mint smoothie struck a chord, as mint has been one of my latest obsessions. So refreshing and invigorating, mint has been sneaking into my desserts left and right, so why not a drink to shake* things up a bit?

*I swear, I only noticed the pun after typing it!

Unlike the artificial-everything monstrosity available at certain fast food franchises, my shake takes on its color naturally, thanks to a helping of matcha. Mint and matcha were meant to be together in my opinion, with the bright, clean flavor of mint accentuating and working well with the bitterness of matcha. By no means is this drink bitter, though- Maple syrup sweetens things quite nicely, although you could substitute agave if cost is a concern.

I may not be even of .001% Irish descent or know the first thing about St. Patrick’s Day, but I’m still celebrating in my own small way, putting festive green foods back on the menu, naturally.

Place everything into your blender and let it rip. Once the mixture is homogeneous, pour half of it into ice cube trays and set that on an even surface in your freezer. Allow it to freeze completely, about 3 – 4 hours. Once frozen, return the smoothie cubes and reserved liquid to the blender, and process once more. Serve immediately.

I “discovered” mint in smoothies last summer when my garden went crazy with mint and I just had to do something with it! I ended up drinking them throughout the summer. Yours looks much more elegant and festive–perfect for St. Pattie’s!

I usually agree with the distaste of the unnaturally green products that creep up around st. paddy’s day, but one that I could never turn away from is a minty grasshopper cocktail. I love your idea of adding matcha though to give it a more natural feel… now I wonder: crème de cacao, crème de menthe, matcha, milk? I can’t wait to give it a shot :)

Imagine my alarm when I learned that a lot of artificial food coloring comes from coal tar! I had the same thought about making stuff green naturally- I SO wanted to make a kale cupcake or something -LOL! Happy St. Patty’s Day, Hannah!

This sounds so good! I’ve gotten the Matcha shakes with soy milk from Starbucks a few times and while I really like the idea, they are way too sweet. This sounds like it will do the trick especially once Portland starts to heat up this summer.

I <3 your creativity amony every little holiday- maybe you can craft a little leprecauhn* or smiling sharerock for the fun of it!? :) I want to make something green festive that’s edible tomorrow- trying to get some inspiration! I just got manderine matchta tea from my local health food store- it’s amazing! Now if I can find the powder, I will try to make that “green tea trismiu” from My Sweet Vegan! ;D

I’ve never had the matcha and mint combination! I loooove matcha powder though but I never know what to use it in. I am definitely going to try out this recipe. I used the matcha in oatmeal once and I accidently put far too much in.. it was awful :(

oh i used to love shamrock shakes in my pre-vegan days!! something about mint in shake form is just darn refreshing. I really want to try this the next chance i get…i think i might throw in a scoop or two of vanilla soy dream to make it nice and thick and cold! woo hooo!

I’ve been into smoothies lately, so this will be a welcome change from the fruity variety! I happen to love ALL things mint—-but I’m with you on the green milk thing. Even green beer grosses me out! Bagels, I can tolerate, so long as the spread isn’t green! :)